This invention relates to mounting arrangements for speakers or other apparatus which need to be recessed within walls or ceilings, for example, and yet need to be moved away from the plane of the wall or ceiling for maintenance or repair, etc.
In particular, in the construction of certain types of buildings it is often necessary to recess a large number of such objects in ceilings and walls, eg., speakers in an auditorium or theatre. Under such circumstances, it is desirable to minimise the expense involved with the labour and hardware devoted to the installation of such apparatus and its subsequent maintenance. A particularly desirable objection when the speakers are large and heavy is to ensure that such maintenance can be safely carried out in a relatively speedy manner.
Existing housing and or fixing means for recessed speakers or lamps, etc., exhibit inefficient design and/or employ attachment means involving various screw fasteners requiring awkward and time consuming assembly operations. An improvement to this prior art was provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,339 which describes a spring-like mechanism which is nonetheless complicated and employs several components.
Alternative housings for loudspeakers require the fixing to be applied to the front of the apparatus, such as in Birkner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,480. This housing does not provide any improvement in the cost and time of maintenance of wall or ceiling-mounted loudspeakers which require access to the rear of the loudspeaker.
It is an object of at least the preferred embodiments of the present invention to further simplify the labour and reduce the cost of production, fitting and maintenance of mounting apparatus such as a lamp or loudspeaker, over the aforementioned prior art.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a mounting arrangement for a loudspeaker, luminaire or similar apparatus, comprises a housing in which the apparatus is received, and at least one resilient means attached to the housing and to the apparatus, the length of the resilient means between its points of attachment being such that when the apparatus is received in the housing the resilient means is deformed and exerts a force retaining the apparatus in the housing, withdrawal of the apparatus from the housing requiring further deformation of the resilient means through a state of greater deformation to a state in which it does not exert the retaining force.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a mounting arrangement for a loudspeaker, luminaire of similar apparatus, comprises a housing in which the apparatus is received and at least one resilient means attached to the housing and to the apparatus, the length of the resilient means between its points of attachment being such that when the apparatus is received in the housing the resilient means is deformed and exerts a force retaining the apparatus in the housing, withdrawal of the apparatus from the housing requiring further deformation of the resilient means through a state of greater deformation to a state of lesser deformation.
Preferably, the resilient means supports the apparatus when it is withdrawn from the housing.
The housing may further comprise a stop such that the apparatus is held against the stop by the resilient means when the apparatus is received into the housing.
Further, the length of the resilient means is such that when the apparatus is withdrawn the apparatus projects beyond the plane of said housing sufficiently for access of the rear of the apparatus for maintenance.
The resilient means may be attached to the apparatus that is to be received such that said no part of said mounting arrangement is visible when said apparatus is received into said housing.
Furthermore, there may be a plurality of such resilient means, preferably arranged such that the net force exerted by the resilient means is directed axially.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the resilient means is a spring or flexible strip, which may be deformed into a bowed or sinuous shape when the apparatus is in the housing.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the housing forms a protective shell around the apparatus when the apparatus is received into the housing.
The housing may comprise an inner shell and an outer support structure held together by a fixing means.
The outer support structure may have a peripheral rim which abuts one side of the wall or ceiling panel and the inner shell may have a peripheral rim which abuts the exterior side of the ceiling panel thus forming a structure which isolates one side of the wall or ceiling panel from the other side thereof. This mounting arrangement thus maintains the integrity of the ceiling as a fire barrier, and also protects the speaker or lamp from dust present in the ceiling void.